What's up, sunshine? I'm Koi Wire, and
today on CNN 10, a weather pattern that
could supercharge storms around the
world. Harvard is cracking down on easy
A's and later, firefighters climbing 900
ft up a tower to rescue stranded hot air
balloon passengers. This show is going
skyhigh, so let's go. We begin today
with a weather phenomenon you've
probably heard of, El Nino, and why
scientists say this year's version could
pack some serious punch. El Nino happens
when parts of the tropical Pacific Ocean
warm up enough to disrupt wind patterns
in the atmosphere. Kind of like one
domino tipping over and triggering
weather changes around the world. Could
be hurricanes, flooding, droughts, heat
waves. You get the point. Normally El
Nino shows up every two to seven years,
but this one is developing faster than
expected, raising the possibility of a
rare super El Nino by fall or
wintertime. Scientists are also studying
how climate change could amplify its
impacts, potentially making extreme
weather even more intense. Our Andrew
Freriedman has more. By now, you
probably already know that a super El
Nino is coming soon, but it isn't the
first. And the past few events can give
us important insights into the global
consequences that are to come. For
example, the 199798
super El Nino brought flooding rains to
California, parts of Africa, and South
America, but led to drought, extreme
heat, and wildfires in Australia, the
Philippines, and Indonesia. It even led
to very serious deadly tornado outbreak
in Florida. Super Elnos can also lead to
widespread coral bleaching events
because corals are susceptible to above
average ocean temperatures which is a
hallmark of El Nino. We saw this happen
in 199798
and with the 2015 2016 event. History is
an important but imperfect guide to what
to expect with the coming super El Nino
which some computer models suggest could
be the most intense since 1950.
New research suggests that climate
change may be altering some of El Nino's
impacts, which adds some more
uncertainty into the mix. The bottom
line, though, is that this super Elnino
is going to be costly. It is going to
affect the lives of hundreds of millions
of people around the world and alter
ecosystems for many decades to come.
Pop quiz hot shot. Which school is
credited with creating the letter
grading scale? Stanford University,
Chapman University, Mount Holio College,
or University of Miami.
If you said Mount Holio, you get an E
for excellent. Implemented in 1897, the
college issued grades of A through E,
which was later replaced by F to make
sure people didn't think E stood for
excellent. Earning straight A's at one
of the nation's top universities is
about to get a lot tougher. Harvard
University announced its plans to limit
how many Ag grades professors can give
undergraduate students in an effort to
fight grade inflation. Starting in fall
of 2027, instructors will only be
allowed to award a range grades to no
more than 20% of students in each class.
Faculty who voted in favor of the change
earlier this month argued that when
almost everybody gets an A, the grade
stops meaning what it used to. They
pointed out that more than 60% of all
undergrads in recent years were in the A
range. Princeton University implemented
a similar measure back in 2004, but
dropped it a decade later amid
complaints the system puts students
competing for jobs and graduate school
admissions at a disadvantage. So, what
do you think? Should schools make it
harder to earn an A, or should grades
reflect mastery no matter how many
students succeed? Feel free to press
pause and discuss.
As AI keeps reshaping the tech industry
faster than all those software updates
you kept clicking, remind me later on.
Many new graduates are wondering what
jobs will even look like in the future.
Our Linda Concaid spoke with students
and faculty at Georgia Institute of
Technology or Georgia Tech about how the
class of 2026 is being prepared for
their first jobs in tech and the
challenges ahead.
>> The class of 2026 is graduating.
A computer science degree at Georgia
Institute of Technology is considered a
golden ticket to secure a position at a
major tech company like Google, Meta,
and Amazon. But after tens of thousands
of layoffs and a rapid shift towards AI,
students are entering a job market that
looks very different.
>> So with all the mass layoffs in tech,
how are you feeling approaching
graduation?
>> I I won't lie. We, my friends and I,
have been a little bit scared about
entering the workforce.
>> This year, more than 100,000 jobs were
cut in the tech sector, according to
industry trackers. LinkedIn shows
entrylevel hiring has fallen about 6%
yearover-year.
>> How's your finals going?
>> Hunter Richardson is graduating with a
job already lined up.
>> A few years into my degree program, I
added accounting as a second major to be
able to apply the things I learned in
computer science. Hunter represents one
side of the story. Students who took
steps to adapt early, combining
technical skills with business
experience and internships. Goldman
Sachs estimates that Gen AI could affect
300 million jobs worldwide, though less
than 7% are at risk of full
displacement. In other words, most jobs
are being reshaped, not eliminated.
Career expert Andrew McKascal says the
numbers reflect a reset, not a collapse.
Andrew, when you look at white collar
jobs over the next 18 to 24 months, what
does the landscape look like?
>> 2026 is going to be one of the most
competitive job markets that we've seen
in years. Think about it like this.
Right now, 36% of the people who are
unemployed in this country hold college
degrees. So, there's a lot of
competition in the marketplace right
now. So you're saying the key is to
pivot, to adapt. What does that mean in
real terms?
>> Yes. The reality of the marketplace is
not optimal, but you don't panic. You
pivot. You adapt. Get as many data
points as you possibly can about where
people are hiring. According to the
World Economic Forum 2025 report, key
growth areas include artificial
intelligence and machine learning, data
and digital infrastructure, cyber
security, robotics, healthcare, and
biotech.
>> One of the fastest growing industries
right now is utilities as the entire
grid gets changed in advance of the AI
assisted workforce.
>> For decades, a techbased degree promised
certainty. in 2026. It offers something
different opportunity, but most likely
only for those ready to adapt.
Today's story getting a 10 out of 10. A
heroic rescue mission that was truly
next level after a hot air balloon
ripped open and became tangled on a
phone tower nearly 900 ft in the air.
Firefighters jumped into action.
Actually climbed really high with ropes
and rescue gear on their backs. They
took courage to new heights to reach
some stranded passengers. Our Ryan Young
is on the story.
>> There's a hot air balloon that got
popped by it and they're stuck on the
phone tower.
>> They're stuck up there. They're close to
the very top. As the 911 calls started
coming in, Long View firefighters rushed
toward the tallest structure they would
ever climb.
>> I think I was about 5 miles out on the
way to this call when I looked up the
road and saw there's a big colorful
balloon in a tiny little basket very,
very high up in the air.
>> Captain Steve Winshill was off duty
taking care of his daughter when he got
the call. In a region known for balloon
racing, his station trains extensively
for high angle rope rescues like this.
but normally at around 250 ft. This
balloon was dangling over 900 ft in the
air and the only way to save them climb.
>> It wasn't an easy climb. Uh but yeah,
you're just trying to look again into an
abyss of just metal all the way to
heaven is what it looks like. So you
feel like you're just climbing to
infinity. carrying 40 lbs of rope on
their backs. It took over 1 hour for the
first firefighter to reach the balloon's
pilot.
>> The basket still swang pretty good
though at this time and there's just
fear in his eyes. Ask him, "Hey, are you
okay?" He says, "Yes, we're okay." And I
was like, "Oh, there's someone else in
the basket." And then I see a hand shoot
up. She was apparently laying on the
floor begging for her life. Thought she
was going to die. We had 20 24 mph gusts
of wind up there. This basket is is
swaying and moving and nothing really
having it secured at that point.
>> Command all units second victim is out
of the basket.
>> We had started down climbing but we're
still hundreds of feet up and you can
just hear the roar erupt from the crowd
as the victims hit the ground safely.
The basket now resides in the Long View
Firehouse, donated by the survivors as
an appreciation for the day. They went
above and beyond the call of duty.
>> Just as a momento of why we train and
why we do what we do uh even when we
don't get to uh do this every day.
>> All right, sunshine. Two shout outs for
you today. This first one goes to
Highland Middle School in Morango, Ohio.
Coach Wilson, great to meet you and
Adakus in Indianapolis. Hope you guys
have a slam dunk summer. And this next
one goes to Miss Niles at Trip Delmont
School District 335. Thank you for your
letter. Keep up the good work. All
right, tonight is the final round of the
scripts National Spelling Bee and we
will be there. We can't wait to show you
what happened right here on the show.
I'm Cy Wire and we are CNN 10.